Transcript Slide 1
ABU, Zaria ABU, Zaria Under Article 24 UN Charter of 1945, the UN Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Under Art. 10 of the same Charter, the UN General Assembly has the power to discuss any question or matter or make recommendations on any matter relating to international peace and security. The above provisions constitute the basic legal foundation for the above international concepts. Hence Peace Making consists of an action to bring hostile parties to an agreement essentially through such peaceful means as those foreseen in chapter VI of the UN Charter which deals with Pacific Settlement of Disputes mechanisms such as negotiation, mediation, conciliation etc. ABU, Zaria Peacekeeping, on the other hand, is a mechanism for preventing and controlling conflict and promoting peace. It is the UN Security council authorized deployment of military or police personnel and frequently civilians as well, while political solutions are sought. PK is usually interposed between hostile states and sometimes between hostile communities within a state and must be directed by the UN Secretary General. Beyond the traditional activities of PK operations namely, maintaining international peace and security, today peacekeepers do more and this includes the following: humanitarian relief assistance to victims of armed conflict; respond to the needs of refugees and IDPs; enforce armed embargoes,; remove mines; and strive to disarm hostile parties including armed groups as in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, DCR Congo between 1989-2006. ABU, Zaria Furthermore, P Keepers engage in election monitoring, human rights abuses verification etc. Unlike PK, Peace Enforcement is a mechanism designed to identify and support structures which tends to strengthen and solidify peace in order to avoid a relapse into violent conflict. E.g., ensuring implementation of any peace accord reached between parties. This may involve the use of armed force for collective security intervention as was the authorisation for ECOMOG’s intervention in Liberia and Sierra Leone 1990-2005 as well as NATO’s intervention in Kosovo/former Yugoslavia, 1999-2000. ABU, Zaria Today, Article 8(1) of the AU Convention for the Protection of IDPs in Africa (adopted in Kampala, Uganda, October 2009) confers right on African Union to intervene in a member state in accordance with (the right of AU) Article 4(h) of the AU Constitutive Act in respect of grave circumstances such as war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity arising from gross, massive, systematic or widespread human rights violations. ABU, Zaria THE END ABU, Zaria